Month: October 2016

How you doin’? It’s Mr. Wada back on duty. What do you think Japanese eat every day? Sushi? Tempura? Fujiyama? Harakiri? I am sorry but it’s a no. You may know authentic Japanese food but how about Japanese home cooking? I would like to share a franchised restaurant called Shokudo where you could find anywhere in Japan.

Japanese Home Cooking at Shokudo

Shokudo refers local informal restaurants but this Shokudo is just a company name. Each store of this Shokudo comes with its area name. One in our neighborhood is called Shinpo Shokudo (since it’s in the Shinpo area).

Enter Shokudo

Huge classic rice cookers welcome you. Wow, rice must be goody.

Now what? Follow this chart. Basically pick dishes you would like and pay at the cashier. Oh don’t forget to return dishes when you are done (that’s etiquette in Japan).

Pick as you like. Japanese home cooking for reasonable prices.

Tamagoyaki.

Salad.

Payment at the cashier. The cashier would ask if you would like rice/miso soup together.

Budget is 1,000 JPY-ish. This combination doesn’t look like a typical Japanese home cooking though, well I couldn’t resist.

Other Shokudo-type Places

There are some other Shokudo-type restaurants. Here’s some reference. I like Yayoiken also that we can pick regular rice or brown rice. Otoya serves good stuff as well (but there isn’t one in Okayama).

Hi there it’s Mr.Wada on duty. It’s a review of the Lupin the Third movie that I’ve seen on TV lately. Thought I should share it here.

About the Movie

It’s the second film of Lupin the Third made in 1979 (it started as a TV series and continued as an annual TV movie). I’ve seen this movie many times since I was small and one TV station still plays it every now and then (and people still watch).

Why Popular?

This definitely is the most popular Lupin the Third film all time for sure. One big reason is this is directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Yes, the god of Japanese animation from Ghibli Studio. He made Lupin for everyone (it was originally written for grownups).

If you are familiar with his works, you may recognize some characters in this film.

Oh hey, there’s a guy from Heidi! (this one is only a joke. Hehe)

My Favorite Scene

I like the ending where detective Zenigata (that’s who’s been chasing Lupin for decades) makes a cheesy speech to the princess. He tells her that Lupin stole something precious… that is, her heart. Hehe.

Lupin The Third The Castle of Cagliostro in 4D!

As of October 2016, The Castle of Cagliostro in 4D is scheduled in January 2017 in Japan. It will NOT be 3D but might be with moving seat, splash, etc. like an attraction! It sounds quite much exciting, doesn’t it?

Lastly

Basically it’s first-timer friendly. It doesn’t matter if you have never seen the show. If you like Miyazaki, you will like it for sure. By the way Channel 9 (Nihon TV) still airs this movie almost every year and it still hooks many viewers. Amazing.